Susan Chastain, Sheila Jordan in Club Series

The final SEMJA / KCH Club Series event of the summer will be on August 4 when Susan Chastain visits Ann Arbor from her home in Florida. She started singing at the Bird of Paradise in Ann Arbor with the Paul Keller Big Band eventually started the Firefly Club (on Ashley and Main Streets). On this night she will sing the songs of Frank Sinatra.

Chastain will be joined by two people she hired (and sang with) frequently at the Firefly: bassist Keller and pianist Phil DeGreg. DeGreg is a versatile and swinging pianist who for sixteen years was the house pianist at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati. He has played with most big names in modern jazz.

On October 6 NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan will sing with the Dobbins-Krahnke-Weed Trio in the first SEMJA / KCH Club Series of the fall, with performances at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Sheila received the award from the National Endowment for the Arts in January (see the whole concert ) — and this is just the latest in a long series of awards for one of the nation’s most praised jazz singers.

This is not her first appearance at the Concert House or in Ann Arbor, where she first appeared in a duo with bassist Harvie Swartz. She has taken a liking to the Dobbins-Krahnke-Weed Trio after appearing with them at the Firefly and the Detroit Jazz Festival over the last few years.

Jordan spent her formative years in Detroit’s bebop circles in the forties and fifties. She moved to the Big Apple in 1951 and recorded a landmark album, Portrait of Sheila, for Blue Note in 1962. Her recording of “You Are My Sunshine” with George Russell gave her credentials with post-boppers, and she continues to be a very adventurous singer.

SEMJA will provide a club atmosphere by serving beer, wine, and other refreshments for the concerts. Please call KCH at 734-769-2999 to make a reservation.